A Forgotten Day at Pluckys
by Allen92909
Summary: Sam Winchester has a fear of clowns, but where did it come from? When did his fear begin? A forgotten day at Pluckys might explain a few things. This is my take on how Sam may have become fearful of clowns. TAG to episode 7x14.
1. Chapter 1

**The forgotten day at Pluckys**

Sam Winchester has a fear of clowns, but where did it come from? When did his fear begin? A forgotten day at Pluckys might explain a few things. This is my take on how Sam may have become fearful of clowns. TAG to episode 7x14.

* * *

 _He whirled around in a panic, trying to spot through an all too tall crowd of people his older brother and father. Somehow he'd gotten separated from them. The lights around him were a blur and the carnival music started fading as his panic grew. People walked passed him without a second glance, no one seeming to care that a three year old was on his own. The rides were a buzz and bells ringed on games as people played for prizes. His eyes welled up with tears as he realized his family was no where to be seen amongst the crowd of people. His heart beat fast when he suddenly found himself surrounded by clowns._

 _The clowns were boisterous and up beat, wearing a colorful array of outfits and wigs with painted faces to match. They circled around him and suddenly, it was as if the whole carnival disappeared...the music had faded and the lights dimmed. The clowns moved closer and he could see how their makeup was smeared by sweat pouring off their bodies. It had been unusually warm that night for the small town in Colorado._

" _All alone, hey kid." One said, making a sad face._

" _Lose your mommy and daddy?" Another asked._

" _We can help, help, help you..." A third offered with a grin from ear to ear, yellow teeth showing, as he moved closer to the boy._

 _He could smell something foul on the clown's breath and pulled back. Occasionally, he smelt the same thing on his father's breath after his father visited some place that he called the bar. His Dad wasn't always in a good mood after he visited the various bars throughout the different places they'd lived. He couldn't imagine what kind of mood these clowns were in._

" _Awe, come on boy..." One cooed. "We just want to help." They all moved in closer, with big grins on their faces and suddenly, he couldn't breath._

" _Sam, Sammy..." He heard a shout from outside the circle that surrounded him and that's when the carnival came back into focus._

 _Another boy, only a few years older than him, pushed through the clowns, followed by an older man...his brother and father. His breath hitched as tears slide down his cheeks. "Daddy, De..." He ran to them and threw his arms around them._

" _Hey..." The older man said, reaching down to lift the boy. "thought we lost you for a second, Sammy."_

" _Yeah," His brother added in and teased. "thought I might have to get myself a new brother." He looked up at their father with a smile. "Now let's go get some cotton candy."_

 _They all pushed through the clowns and back to the rest of the carnival, where they spent the rest of the evening playing games, going on rides, and stuffing themselves full of junk food. There wouldn't be too many fun trips like this in the future, so they enjoyed it while they had the chance._

That was the night when Sam Winchester's dislike of clowns began, but it was a whole other experience that turned his dislike into an all out fear. The worst part about his new found fear though, was that he wouldn't remember how it came to be.

" _Come on, Sammy..." Dean coaxed from his seat on a bed in their hotel of the week. "You love that place."_

" _No, you only thought I did." He shot back from his chair at the only table in the room where he was trying to finish his homework. "That place was fun the first time around, but I'm almost 13 and those places are for little kids."_

" _Ok, what if I promise that this is the last time..."_

 _Sam cut his brother off. "Yeah, the last time until you find some other girl you want to make out with for the night."_

" _Sam, I'm just taking her to dinner." Dean lied. Of course he was planning on making out._

" _So let me stay here." Sam argued._

" _Dad would kill me if he knew you were here alone." Dean said._

" _But it's ok for me to be alone somewhere else?" Sam asked with a sigh._

 _Dean stood from the bed. "That's enough." He shot back. "You're going, end of story. Now get your coat." He grabbed the impala's keys off the table where Sam was siting and walked out of the motel room._

 _Sam sighed again, angry that no one ever seemed to care what he wanted or thought. He closed the text book that was in front of him and shoved it back into his backpack that was on the floor by the table and reached for his jacket. He stormed out to the parking lot and eyed the impala, which was already running and waiting for him. He took to the passenger seat and crossed his arms over his chest in defiance and refused to say a single word to Dean as they drove across town to Plucky Pennywhistles Magic Menagerie._

 _Dean pulled up to the front of Plucky's and put the car in park. He reached into his wallet, handing Sammy a twenty dollar bill. "Alright, have fun..." He started to say._

" _Yeah, whatever." Sam replied, pocketing the twenty as he climbed out of the car._

" _I'll be back before they close." Dean said, putting the car in drive before Sam had even closed the passenger door._

 _Sam stood and watched the impala speed away from him. Once it was out of sight, he turned and headed into Plucky's. It wasn't the kind of place his Dad would ever take him to. The first time Dean had taken him to one, it was fun. The two of them pigged out on a huge pizza and spent hours playing all the games. Dean was determined to get enough tickets winning games to get the big prize at the prize counter, which was some kind of giant slinky. Dean never got his slinky, but since that first visit, he'd left the younger Winchester there a few times so he could hang out with some random chicks from school. It became like a babysitter and Sam was starting to loath the place._

 _He spent most of the evening playing skeeball and tried to ignore all the annoying younger kids around him that were screaming and squealing with excitement and joy. In fact, he pretty much kept to himself the whole evening while he waited for his brother to finish his make out session with the new girl of the week. 'God, my brother's a pig.' he thought._

 _When he realized it was nearing closing time and his brother had not returned yet, he headed to the bathroom at the back of the establishment. He figured he'd go and relieve himself and then wait somewhere out front for his brother. He had no idea that one of the clowns was watching his every move though. A clown had been watching him for part of the evening and that very clown was following him to the hall that lead to the bathrooms. Most hunters would have noticed someone watching them immediately, but he was still in training and his father was still waiting for that training to stick...for that hunter instinct to finally kick in._

 _A few miles away, Dean and some girl were parked at the site of an old damn where a creek flowed and trees surrounded them on all sides. They sat in the Impala, lips locked together as they made out. He was thinking of taking things to third base with the girl, but he was interrupted when his cell phone rang. "Damn it, Sammy..." He cursed as he answered it, assuming it was his little brother._

" _Dean?"_

" _Dad?" Dean immediately pulled away from the girl and sat tall and straight, like a good soldier._

" _Tell me your brother is right there with you?"_

 _Dean eyed the girl for a quick moment. "No, um..he's..." Shit, his Dad was going to be pissed at him for dumping his brother for the night at Plucky's._

" _Where is he?"_

" _He's at Plucky's." Dean answered. "Why, what's going on?" His Dad sounded frantic and genuinely concerned about something._

" _One of the demons I was questioning got away. He snaked out before I could perform the exorcism and I'm worried he may go after your brother."_

 _Dean scrunched his face in confusion. "Why would it go after Sammy?" He asked, not at all aware of the fact that his father had been questioning other demons about the yellow eyed demon and why the demon was in Sam's nursery all those years ago when they'd lost Mary._

" _I don't have time to explain. I'm driving back in to town and just got reception on this damn phone, so I'll go pick up your brother. Get back to the motel and start packing. We leave tonight."_

" _Wait..." Dean pulled the phone away when he realized that his father had just hung up on him. He sighed when his eyes fell back onto the gorgeous bombshell in the seat next to him. Oh, how he wished he could finish his fun with her, but apparently, they were moving on to a new town. It wasn't like them to leave so late after they'd already paid for their motel for another night, but something had obviously spooked their dad. "Sorry, but it looks like I've got to get home." He said, starting the impala._

 _Sam came out of the bathroom and nearly walked right into a clown. "Sorry." He mumbled without even looking up. He tried to sidestep the clown, but the clown grabbed his arm firmly and pulled him back. "Hey, what..."_

 _The clown pushed him against the wall and a hand covered his mouth. "You just be nice and quiet." The clown said. "We're gonna head out that back door," He nodded to a door at the end of the hallway. "and have a little fun."_

 _Sam went into panic mode. He didn't know what the clown intended, but he didn't plan to stick around and find out. His knee shot up, striking the clown in the crotch. When the clown let out a hiss of pain and nearly doubled over, Sam tried to make a run for it back to the gaming area where there was a crowd of kids trying to get in a last few minutes of playtime before the place closed._

 _He was so close to the kids, so close to freedom when he felt an invisible force pulling at him. Before he could register what was happening, his body flew backwards in the air and thudded against the clowns chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him. The clown whirled him around and shoved him hard against the wall, making certain that his head slammed against it. His vision swam for a moment as he heard the clown going "Tsk, tsk, tsk." He thought for a second that the clowns eyes had flashed a deep abyss of darkness, but it had happened so fast that he wasn't sure if he was seeing right. The clown dragged him to the back door and suddenly the cool night air slammed against him as he was thrown to the ground. He quickly tried to get up, but a foot slammed hard into his side, taking away his breath and forcing him to collapse back to the cement beneath him._

 _The clown smiled as he eyed the youngest Winchester boy. He'd just been tortured by the eldest Winchester and he'd be dammed if he knew just how he managed to scurry out of his host before the man could finish the exorcism, but he was glad he did. He didn't want to be forced back to hell. He'd watched his other demon friends give up intimate details on yellow eyes plans for little Sammy Winchester and he didn't want to be in hell to see their fate when ole yellow eyes realized just what they'd done. Of course, he couldn't refuse checking out Sammy and having a little fun with the chosen one. He continued to rein down kicks on the younger boy before another thought came to him._

 _Sam could barely move. He'd tried to get up, but the kicks kept coming and the pain was about to drown him. He could barely breath and his vision was swimming. His chest was killing him where he was certain there had to be a broken rib or two. His Dad had taught he and Dean basic first aid and he knew enough to at least triage himself. His massive headache made it hard to think though._

 _The clown finally stopped kicking the boy, grinning as he moved to put his next plan into action. He reached down and flipped the boy over, hands going for the fly on Sam's pants. Sam, in a renewed panic, tried to fight through the pain and kick out at his attacker. The clown merely smiled and unleashed his demonic power on the boy._

 _Sam got a few good kicks in on the clown, but suddenly he felt some kind of energy form around him. The energy felt like a heavy weight holding him down and he quickly found that he could no longer move. His pants were slid down and off once he was immobilized. He swallowed hard and tried to even his panicked breathing as he watched the clown undo his own pants and force them down, underwear going down with them. A large, erect member bounced free. "This is going to be so much fun." The clown hissed, moving closer to Sam._

 _Sam's eyes grew wide in fear as the clown reached for him with a wide grin on his painted face. He was flipped onto his stomach, hands pushing his legs apart. Something nudged between his legs, but before he could feel it push into him, a shot rang out. The clown stumbled away from him and suddenly, he realized that he could move again. He tried to scurry away as he heard his Dad shouting. "Sammy..."_

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A/N: This started off as a one shot that quickly grew in length, so I've split this up into 4 or 5 parts that will be posted every few days. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on it. I would also like to note for future parts of this story that I am not a doctor or trained in any aspect of the medical field. I do love a good medical show, but even that doesn't qualify me. There will be some hospital scenes coming up and so I apologize if the medical info and jargon isn't quite accurate. Thanks and enjoy...


	2. Chapter 2

**The forgotten day at Pluckys**

Only one review, so I don't know if anyone really likes my take on Sammy's clown fears or not, but here is part 2. Thank you for that one review by the way. I do appreciate it. Let's see what happens next to Poor Sammy. Oh and just a reminder, I am not a doctor.

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 _John didn't waste anytime speeding into town and after talking with Dean, he headed straight for Plucky's. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and this was after he'd interrogated several demons in regards to the death of his wife in his youngest sons nursery. He was completely shocked at what he'd learned...that his youngest son was some kind of chosen one for the yellow eyed demon, that he had demon blood in him and that someday his son could go darkside, aiding yellow eyes in some war against mankind. Oh and Sam wasn't the only chosen one. There were other children as well. He didn't know how the demon blood might affect Sam or if it would even affect him. What he did know was that Sam had always been a supernatural target. The boy had been attacked by a shtriga, a witch, a ghost, and now he was certain a demon...because one of the demons he had been interrogating managed to smoke away before he could finish exorcising them all._

 _He'd heard a commotion behind Plucky's and immediately went running from his truck, which he hadn't even bothered to park. When he'd seen that vile clown hovering over his Sammy and what the clown had been about to do, all he could see was red. His gun came out without a second thought and a bullet flew through the air, striking the clown. He'd called out to his son, to let him know that help was there and watched as Sam had tried to scurry away, face laced with pain and blood._

" _Oh no you don't..." The clown snarled. His hand reached out and he unleashed his power. An invisible force grabbed Sammy, bringing him to his feet as a strength tightened around his neck._

" _No..."John shouted, shooting the gun again. This time the clown staggered back a step, but held his invisible grip on Sam, who was struggling to breath and slowly turning blue in the face. "Let my son go, you bastard..."_

 _The clown smirked. "As you wish, Johnny boy..." He moved his hand through the air and sent Sammy flying. His head struck the side of a dumpster and his body fell to the ground in an awkward heap. Not even a second later, the black smoke funneled out of the clowns body and the bloody clown fell to the ground in a painful heap, his face full of confusion and panic._

 _John wasn't concerned with the clown. "Sammy..." He was more concerned with his boy and ran over to him the moment the demon had smoked out. Sam had a streak of blood dripping out of his ear and was still a little blue in the face. The boy was unconscious and that worried him a lot. He quickly pulled up Sam's pants and scooped him up in his arms, running back to the truck. He gently laid Sam in the passenger seat and pointed the truck in the direction of the nearest hospital. '_

 _As he drove, John picked up his cell phone and dialed Dean. He didn't want to give Dean too many details, but his eldest son needed to know that they were going to be staying a little longer than planned and he needed to know to meet them at the hospital._

 _Dean had just gotten back to their motel of the week and was starting to clean up when his Dad had called. His Dad's tone of voice instantly had him worried, but his father was rather sparse with info on just what was going on...such as why the older man seemed frantic or why he and Sammy were headed to the hospital. Like a good soldier though, Dean didn't ask questions. He simply stopped what he was doing and went back to the impala. He headed straight for the hospital, driving his baby at full speed through to the outskirts of town where there was a decent size hospital complex,while his mind went into overdrive thinking of different scenarios that could have landed either Winchester in the hospital._

 _John pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital and skidded to a halt near sliding double doors. He exited the truck, not bothering to care that he had left the driver's side door open or even that he had his favorite hand gun holstered to a special hook on the dash. He tore through the double doors and yelled for the hospital staff._

 _A nurse came over to the frantic man. "Sir, you have to check in at the desk just like everyone else..."_

" _No, no...it's my son. Please." John stammered._

" _I'm sorry, but..." The nurse continued._

 _John cut her off. "My son's been attacked. He's unconscious in the truck." He said and then added in a stern voice. "He needs to be seen now."_

 _Another nurse came over and instructed the other one to tend to another patient, handing her the file for someone in the waiting room. "Let me take a look at your son." She said to John._

" _He's this way." John lead the way to his truck.  
_

" _I'm nurse Jenny and what's your son's name?" She followed him closely._

" _His name's Sam, Sammy." John shot back as he opened the passenger door to the truck._

 _The nurse stepped around John to get a good look at the boy in the cab. "Can you tell me his age and what happened?" She asked._

" _He's 13 and..." John stopped for a quick moment, thinking up a story. He couldn't really tell the nurse that a demon in the body of a clown attacked his boy, much less why the demon attacked his boy. Thankfully, a story came to him instantly. "He was attacked by some boys. I found him at the park, the other boys hurried off when they saw me and Sam was just like this...unconscious and hurt pretty bad._

 _Jenny looked over the boy as thoroughly as she could given the way he was laid out in the cab of the truck. "Just gimme one second..." She turned back to the double doors of the hospital and when they slid open, she shouted to someone at the front desk. "Nick, I need a doctor and a gurney out here." She turned back a second later to address John. "He looks like he's got a definite concussion, any damage beyond that is too hard to tell without getting him into the hospital and looking him over more thoroughly. He'll need a ct scan. The blood from his ear is a bit worrisome. He's got some tenderness in the abdomen, which suggests cracked or broken ribs, there could be some internal bleeding, but like I said..." She was cut off._

 _A small team of nurses rushed out with a gurney, followed by one of the ER doctors. "Let's get this kid inside." A deep male voice instructed. John heard and saw the doctor instructing from behind the team of nurses. He let them load Sam onto the gurney as the doctor introduced himself. He moved towards John to better oversee the patient as he was moved from the truck. "I'm doctor Lecki and I'm going to be taking care of your son. I'll let you know something as soon as we can get him examined."_

" _Right, of course." John said, following the team as far into the hospital as they would let him. A nurse stopped him at the trauma room door and ushered him over to a small waiting area. John was too worried about Sam to sit though and too upset with himself, so he paced back and fourth in the small area, nearly wearing a grove in the floor. He thought about the interrogation earlier of the demons he'd found. He was so desperate for information on the yellow eyed demon, the one that had killed his wife all those years ago in his sons nursery, that he figures he was probably a little reckless. Hell, how else could one of the demons slip away? Reckless and stupid, that's what he thought. And he probably should have had backup to help wrangle in the demons and keep em' secure. "Damn it..." He cursed aloud, mostly to himself._

" _Dad?" Dean questioned. He'd heard his Dad swearing and walked in to find the man pacing and the man was never a pacer unless something serious was going on that he had no control over._

 _John stopped in his tracks and turned to his eldest son. His anger at himself seemed to shift the moment his eyes landed on him. "How could you be so reckless and leave Sammy unprotected like that? You're supposed to be looking out for him and..."_

 _Dean hung his head low in shame. He knew that whatever had happened (not that he knew what yet) to Sam (he had to guess Sam because his brother wasn't the one in the waiting room) was his fault. He'd been the one to dump his brother so he could go making out with some chick. He'd been the one to insist that Sam go to Plucky's for a few hours. It was his job to protect Sammy and he'd failed at that AGAIN._

" _Sir..." Both were interrupted by a nurse. "Sir..." John stopped mid sentence. He and Dean both looked to the nurse hoping for answers. "We're taking your son over to the ct scan. He's still not conscious and the doctor wants to make sure he gets everything checked out thoroughly." She explained._

" _Wait, what?" Dean was confused and that was mostly in part to his father sharing as little details as possible about what was going on. "He's not waking up?" He gave his father this look, an 'if you don't start talking, I'll kill you' kind of look. His father knew the look all too well._

 _The nurse replied. "Not as of yet, but we're sure it's probably just from a combination of issues. The doctor should be out in a short while to explain everything though." She turned and walked off before either Winchester could shoot another question at her, following the gurney with the boy on it to ct._

 _Dean looked to his father again. "Start talking." Was all he said._

 _John knew that Dean wanted... NEEDED answers, but just how much was he going to share with him? He wasn't sure if he should say anything about the demons or about what they'd said about Sam. He wasn't really sure what to make of Sam, now that he knew what the demons knew, and he couldn't imagine how Dean would interpret the information. And thus began the lies. "You're brother was attacked." He said._

" _What? By who?" Dean asked. Sam had been at a place full of kids and happy go lucky clowns, he hadn't a clue as to who would want to hurt the younger man...unless of course, it was someone of the supernatural variety that hurt Sammy._

" _He was attacked by some other kids. I took care of the kids, but your brother...he, he was...well..." John could barely keep it together as he thought about what really happened and what had been about to happen._

 _Before Dean could question further a slew of staff flew past them with a gurney, headed to one of the other trauma rooms." 42 year old Michael Thomas. He was found behind Plucky's. Two GSWs, one to the chest and one to the shoulder. No other apparent injuries, BP is..." They both heard a paramedic informing the hospital staff as they disappeared into the other room._

 _John immediately recognized the clown. He felt a slight pang of remorse at having shot the man, because he knew all to well how demons tended to take innocent people as hosts and lock them away in their mind as they used their bodies...often leaving the host clueless and confused when they finally left those bodies or even leaving the host dead when they left the bodies. He didn't know if the clown would have any memories of what the demon had done in his body or if the clown was left to question everything from the last few hours and he honestly couldn't care. His focus was on Sammy and how Sammy would be after living through what that clown had done, had planned to do. He didn't know that Sammy would never remember what happened, but as it turned out some of the boys injuries may have been a blessing._

" _That was one of the clowns at Plucky's, Dad." Dean observed quickly. "Did he do something to Sammy?"_

 _Another lie escaped John. "No, I don't know anything about that. You're brother was attacked by some kids."_

" _Which you said you took care of, and how was that exactly?" Dean wondered._

" _You don't want to know." John finally sat in one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs._

" _So this wasn't..." Dean looked around to make sure no one was in earshot of the two of them. "Supernatural?"_

" _No, Dean..." John also gazed around to make sure they were alone. "Not everything is supernatural."_

 _Dean sat next to his father. "So how bad is it?"_

" _Well, he was unconscious when I found him and he might have some broken ribs, but I couldn't tell much else without being able to talk to him." John explained. "And what about you?"_

" _What about me?" Dean asked confused._

" _Just what were you doing that was so important to make you bail on your brother?" John shot back. "Your supposed to be taking care of him and..."_

 _Dean cut him off. "I'm not his father, you are." Typically, Dean was a good soldier. He always respected his dad and never talked back to the man, but something in him snapped. "I was out being a teenager."_

" _Excuse me?" John stood, anger just seething out of him. "What did you just say?"_

" _I said that I'm not his father." Dean wasn't about to back down._

 _John stopped to think for a second, letting Dean's words sink in. Dean was right, he wasn't the boys father and yet most of the time, he was the one raising the boy. It hit him in that moment, that he wasn't angry at Dean's words, he was just angry at the whole damn situation and angry at Dean speaking out, something the boy rarely did. "You're right..." John admitted, while visibly trying to wrangle in his anger. "We both need to be looking out for Sammy, but I'm his father and I can't expect you to keep doing my job."_

" _Dad, I didn't mean for Sammy to get hurt." Dean replied. "I try to watch out for him, but sometimes I just want to do something without my little brother tagging along, sometimes I just want to be a normal teenager." Dean was a hunter, through and through. Hunting came as naturally to him as breathing, but sometimes, he just needed a little break from hunting._

 _John knew that Dean would never intentionally put Sammy in harm's way. If he'd known what was going to happen, he knew Dean wouldn't have dumped him at plucky's. He also knew that Dean had needs. He was a growing boy and a brooding teenager at that. Of course he wouldn't want his annoying brother around all the time. "I know, Dean. I just, I just don't want anything to happen to you boys. I already lost the love of my life and you boys are the last little bit of her I have left..." Now he was getting downright emotional, which was a rare side of him that he hardly ever showed his boys. "I can't lose either of you."_

" _You won't Dad, I'm sure Sammy'll be fine." Dean did his best to reassure their father, but all they could really do was wait for the doctor to come back and let them know for sure._

 _And waiting is just what they did. They sat, they paced, and then they sat and paced some more. It seemed like hours waiting for a doctor or even a nurse. Eventually, Dean had nodded off and was sleeping with his head leaned back against the wall and his arms folded over his chest, while his Dad sat and watched whatever it was on the tv in the waiting area._

" _Sir..." Doctor Lecki finally stepped into the waiting area._

" _Sam, is he ok?" John quickly asked as he nudged his eldest son in the side._

 _Dean jerked awake instantly. "Sammy?"_

" _John, was it?" Dr. Lecki asked._

" _Yes," John nodded. "And this is my other son, Dean."_

" _Right, let's get down to business shall we?" Dr. Lecki sat across from the Winchesters. Seeing them nod, he continued. "At first glance, Sam was in pretty serious condition when he came in. He was unconscious and unresponsive, he had obvious damage to his rib cage and some bruising along his abdomen, and there was apparent head trauma. After examining him and doing several tests, I can say for sure that two ribs are broken and three are fractured. There was some deep bruising around his kidneys, but no other internal damage to his abdomen. The bruises will be sore for a while, but will probably feel mild in comparison to the pain from his ribs being damaged."_

" _But the ribs, they'll heal?" Dean asked._

 _Dr. Lecki nodded. "They will with time. We've wrapped them and stabilized them the best we could and in most cases, they usually heal up fine. Of course, that's if he rests and takes it easy during recuperation. We don't want to risk him doing further damage."_

" _What about his head?" John was the one to ask this time._

" _I was just getting to that." Dr. Lecki answered._

" _Is he awake?" Dean threw in._

 _The doctor sighed. "Please allow me to explain." He said. "Sam is still unconscious. We ran a full CT scan and he does have some minor swelling of the brain."_

" _Does that mean he's permanently brain damaged or something?" Dean asked. "Will he need surgery to fix it?"_

" _We can't say for sure if there is any permanent damage." Dr. Lecki replied. "We won't know until he wakes, but as I said, the swelling is minor. We think that the swelling should go down on it's own in the next few days, so he shouldn't require any surgery. I do want you to be aware of some things to expect though given the extent of his injury."_

" _And what things would those be?" John wondered._

" _When Sam does wake, which hopefully should be anytime throughout the night or even early morning, he might be a little confused. He might even suffer from a bit of amnesia..." At that last word, the doctor could instantly see a look of shock on their faces. "And to clarify, I don't mean that he won't remember you or his life, but it's likely he may not remember what happened to him or he may even forget the last few days entirely. As I said though, we won't know for sure until he wakes. He may also suffer from a bit of dizziness these next few days or possibly some blurred vision. It's all common with this kind of head trauma."_

" _Well, he won't be missing much from the last few days." Dean replied. "It's been pretty boring."_

" _What my son means, is we'll fill him in on anything that might be a little fuzzy for him." John amended, though he didn't really mean what he said. If his son couldn't remember what happened at Plucky's, frankly, he thought Sam would be better off._

" _That's very good." Dr. Lecki said with a nod of his head. "Why don't I get a nurse to take you in to see Sam. It's passed visiting hours, but you can both stay with him if you'd like."_

 _John stood as a nurse started walking their way. "Thank you, doctor." He reached a hand out. The doctor stood and shook it, before motioning for the nurse._

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Hopefully the medical stuff was all plausible and not too unrealistic. Part 3 will be up in a couple of days. Please review and let me know your thoughts. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

**The forgotten day at Pluckys**

Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm sure you're all upset at John for lying to Dean, but to clarify, he did so because he didn't want to tell Dean about the demons and what he'd learned about Sammy. As we all know, he doesn't tell Dean about that stuff until the beginning of season 2 before his death. Now we will delve into Sam's recovery and the after math.

* * *

 _John and Dean both followed the nurse to Sam's room. The room was curtained into four sections, but no one else was in the room. Sam lay alone on one of the far beds. He was pale and had a few cuts on his face. One eye was swollen and the other had a dark purple ring around it. Wires snaked to a blood pressure cuff that rested on his upper arm, as well as electrodes on his chest, and a pulsox on the end of one of his fingers. There was tubing dangling from an IV bag that hung on a hook near the bed and connected down to a needle in his lower arm, giving him fluids and probably pain killers, if the Winchesters had to guess. Sam looked so small and lifeless laying in that sad little beige corner of the hospital. The small beeping of Sam's heart rate and the faint up and down of the boys chest were the only indication of lilfe._

" _Damn, Sammy..." Dean swallowed a hard lump in his throat. Why in the hell did he have to ditch him that night? Was making out really that much more important than the well being of his little brother, even if the kid was a pest sometimes? Why did he keep letting Sammy down? Those were among the immediate thoughts in his head when his eyes landed on his battered brother. He should have been there with him. He should have protected him._

 _John could see the inner turmoil in Dean's eyes. He knew immediately that his eldest boy felt guilty, not that he himself had been much help in making him see otherwise. The first thing he'd done was blame Dean. "It's ok, son." He tried to assure Dean. "Sam'll be just fine."_

" _You don't know that, Dad." He shot back quickly, tears brimming in his eyes._

" _No, I suppose not." John said, taking a step closer to inspect the injuries on his youngest son. He spared a quick glance back at Dean. "But I know that we're both gonna help him through it."_

 _Dean hoped that John was right about that, that they would both get Sammy through it because he knew all too well that usually he was the one to get Sammy through things while his father always found new hunts to run after. He prayed that this time was different, but sadly, it would end up being just like every other time._

 _Sometime the next morning, a few hours after the sun first rose, Sam's eyes began to flutter behind heavy lids. For the better part of an hour, he fought his way back from the deep dark abyss that his mind had fallen into. Every time he tried to open his eyes, to the sound of muffled voices that were calling out to him and encouraging him, pain exploded in his head and he had to snap them closed again. He tried to focus on the voices, to what they were saying, but they sounded far off like they were in another universe. He worked his mouth, trying to get it to cooperate, but all that came out was a pained grunt._

" _Come on, Sammy..." Dean cooed. "We need you to open those eyes for us, let us know you're still in there."_

" _Dean, he'll open them when he's ready." John said sternly from the chair he'd situated next to Sam's bed._

 _Dean had his own chair, but for the better part of the last hour, it had sat abandoned on the other side of his brother's bed. He glanced over at his father. "Well, he's taking too damn long." He said with a huff of annoyance. The sooner Sammy woke up, the sooner he could verify that his brother was truly ok._

 _John straightened up in his chair and gave his eldest boy a stern look. "Sit down before you wear a groove into the floor. He's gonna come around. He just needs time."_

 _Dean sighed at his father, at the whole damn situation and sat in his chair. He watched Sam intently for a few minutes before focusing on the strange discoloration on one of the floor tiles. He knew if he kept his eyes on Sam the whole time, he'd probably go crazy. He wasn't sure how many minutes passed before he heard something faint, his eyes shooting up to the bed immediately._

" _De'n"Sam slurred, his eye lids at half mast and unfocused._

" _Hey..." Dean said softly, jumping up from his chair and leaning into Sam's line of vision. "I'm here, Sammy."_

 _Sam swallowed hard and groaned as he felt pain bubble up from his chest. "Wha' ppened?" He asked as he tried to focus his eyes a little better. His voice cracked, his throat obviously dry._

" _Sam?" John finally stood, taking his son's hand. Without turning his head, Sam's eyes slowly flicked over to him. "What do you remember?"_

 _He worked his mouth a few times, trying to find the words. "I, I..."_

 _Dean reached to a bedside table and poured a cup of water for his brother._

" _I was at the h'tel and De..." Sam groaned again and Dean took that as his queue, moving in with the water cup. He sipped slowly before Dean moved the cup away. "De'n was cleanin' guns."_

 _Dean thought for a long moment. "Sammy, that was two days ago." He shot back, getting an immediate look of confusion from his brother._

" _Remember what the doc said?" John said, giving Dean a quick glance. "He told us that Sam might not remember what happened."_

 _The look of confusion on Sam's face instantly turned into a mild panic. He suddenly felt the need to take stock of his injuries. "Wha' happ'ned?" Sam was still slurring a bit as his arm, the one without the blood pressure cuff and IV, moved up to his face. His hand landed on a painful lump on the side of his skull and slowly he moved fingers down it to his one eye, that felt puffy and swollen. He couldn't open that eye as much as the other._

" _Sammy..." Dean started, but John put a hand up to stop him._

" _I think I should handle this, Dean." John said as Sam's hand roamed down to his chest with a sudden need to cradle it protectively, as it too was causing pain. He could see his youngest son grimace and wondered if it wasn't time for Sammy to have some more pain meds. "Some kids attacked you and I had to scare 'em off, but not before they did a little damage."_

 _As if he could read John's thoughts, Dr. Lecki entered the room and slid the privacy curtain back, smiling when he saw that his patients eyes were finally open."Well, hello there Sam."_

 _Sam eyed the man, knowing instantly that he had to be the doctor. He didn't' say anything in reply though. He was too tired and too pained to bother with a response._

" _I'm Dr. Lecki and I've been taking care of you since your father brought you in." He moved towards the bed and picked up the patient chart that hung on the end of it. He checked a few notes that the nightly nurses had written in and then hung it back on the bed. "I see you're due for some new pain meds. Any chance you can rate your pain for me?" He asked his patient curiously. He didn't want to give his patient too much in regards to pain medication because most of the meds could easily be addicting and also because sometimes they kept the patient in a fog. If the patient can tolerate it, they usually work at lowering the pain meds as soon as they can to help minimize any of that. "From 1 to 10."_

 _Sam swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to calculate his pain. His head and chest were the worst, so he assumed that was where most of his injuries were. "Maybe four or, or..." He moved ever so slightly on the bed and let out a hiss. "Six."_

 _Dean could see Sammy tighten his arm a little more around his chest as the younger man hissed in pain. "Alright, just take it easy there little bro." He was instantly in protective mode, though usually that meant protecting his brother from other people or many of the supernatural sons of bitches they come across on a regular basis, not protecting the kid from himself. He moved closer to Sam, ready to put a hand out to stop Sam if he tried to move again._

" _Ok, I'm going to administer a little more pain medication to help with that." Dr. Lecki stated as he moved toward the IV stand. He pushed a button on the IV machine and watched for a quick moment as liquid medicine started snaking into the clear tubing going to his patients arm. He turned back to the patient. "You sustained a pretty serious concussion. There was actually some minor brain swelling, but I'm confident that should go down on it's own. You've also bruised your kidneys and broke a few ribs. Those will be a little sore for a while, but should heal with time and proper rest. It's the head wound we'd like to keep monitoring for a day or two." Sam nodded in acknowledgment at the doctor._

" _Don't worry, Sammy." Dean said with a faint smile. "We're gonna help you through it and get you all better."_

 _Sam's eyes moved to his brother. He always promised to make things better and usually, he was true to his word...up to a point. Things were constantly going sideways for them though and as soon as things were better, they were usually right back to being a mess again. Dean tried, he really did and Sam could never fault his brother for that. He just knew that if things were to really get better, better for good, they'd have to get out of hunting and settle down somewhere on the right side of normal. Until that day happened, which was very unlikely, things would just stay in this cycle of good, bad, and the other constantly on repetition._

" _You know that, right, Sam?" Dean asked when he noticed his brother was staring a little too intently, eyes out of focus just a bit. That usually meant his little brother was deep in some kind of thought._

 _Of course, Sam knew they were going to help him. They'd get him physically back in tip top shape. And, his Dad would have him training and sparring again in no time flat. He wasn't worried about that. What did worry him though was that he couldn't remember what had happened. "Yeah, but..." He started to say._

 _Dean could see the questioning look on Sam's face all of a sudden, his eyes moving to the doc and their Dad. "What is it, Sammy?" He asked._

" _I, I don't remember what even happened." Sam stated softly, his slur finally starting to disappear._

 _John huffed. "You're probably better off son. What those kids did to you..." He trailed off, not wanting to go into detail if he didn't have to...never mind that it was all a lie anyways, so it probably didn't matter._

 _The doctor nodded at Sam. "I was afraid this might happen." He said. "Given the concussion and minor swelling, it's possible you might have some slight memory loss. I'll let you discuss with your family what you may or may not remember, but I will say this. The memories could return or they may never come back to you, but I don't suspect the loss to affect more than the last few days worth of memories."_

" _Uh, that's good, I guess." Sam mumbled as his hand fiddled with a thread on the blanket that was draped over his legs. He was starting to lose focus and if he had to guess, it was probably the pain meds kicking in. "I, uh, think I just wanna sleep for a bit."_

" _Of course, I'll be back in to check on you later." Dr. Lecki turned to John and then Dean. "Why don't you go get yourselves some food in the cafeteria. It's not great food, but you haven't left his side since you brought him in and he really does need some rest. I'll come back before my shift ends in a couple hours." With that said, he walked out._

 _John turned to Dean. "We should eat something." He said, realizing in that moment how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten since the morning before and it was only a measly can of beans that was warmed up in an old fireplace at the abandoned house where he was interrogating demons._

 _Dean planted his butt firmly in his chair and scooted closer to his brother, who'd already dozed off. "You go ahead. I'm not leaving Sammy."He shot back._

" _Dean, we both need to eat something." John tried again, with more force in his voice this time._

" _You can bring me back something." Dean argued._

 _John huffed and moved over to Dean. "This isn't up for debate, son." He grabbed Dean's arm to pull him out of the chair._

 _Dean nearly snarled at his father, yanking his arm away. He eyed his sleeping brother and tried to calm himself before he really pissed their Dad off. "Fine." He stood, knowing that John wasn't about to back off. "We'll grab a quick bite."_

 _Both elder Winchester ate quickly, the cafeteria food not as bad as some of the road food they usually ate. There was even pie, which Dean found himself indulging in as fast as he could inhale it. He was never one to turn down pie, but wanted to get back to his brother. He even grabbed a slice to go. They weren't gone long before they were rushing back to Sam and sitting once again at his bedside._

 _The days after that were slow and agonizing for Sam. He was in and out of pain, but the doctor had him up and moving around the room, with the help of his brother. He wanted to make sure the head injury wasn't impairing Sam's balance and coordination any. He swayed a bit on his feet at first, but pushed through it. He'd had a couple more head scans to verify that the swelling was indeed going down and after a few days, he got the all clear. The swelling had gone and the doctor was ready to consider letting him leave._

 _Once they were back at their motel, Dean was in full on mother hen mode. He was constantly at Sam's side and it was starting to wear on the younger Winchester. "Dean, I'm capable of getting my own water." He argued, trying to fight passed his brother to get up from his side of the bed they shared._

 _Dean stood firmly, blocking his brother. "Doc said you needed to rest up." He shot back._

" _I'm just going for a bottle of water..." Sam tried to argue, but was cut off._

 _Dean crossed his arms. "Which I can get for you."_

 _John stepped out of the bathroom and huffed. "Sam can handle getting his own water." He said sternly. Dean eyed him and looked like he was about to argue so he added in, "He needs rest, but we can't afford to baby him either or he'll never get any strength back."_

 _Dean humphed and stepped aside, finally letting his brother off the bed._

 _John moved closer to his boys. "Now, I was on the phone this morning with Pastor Jim and he's got some leads on a demon I've been tracking." It was the one that hurt his youngest boy, though he left that little tidbit out._

 _Sam reached in their mini fridge for a bottle of water. He tried to get it without bending down, the action causing a bit of pain to flare up in his rib cage. He was still a little sore in that area around his rib cage and abdomen, but wasn't dizzy or having balance issues anymore from his head wound. The only lasting affects of the head wound seemed to be a fuzzy memory. He still couldn't recall the details surrounding what happened to him. He was partially thankful for that, knowing they probably wouldn't have been very fond memories, but also frustrated of it at the same time. He hated that he was missing chunks of time in his memory._

" _Wait, so you're leaving?" Dean asked, almost sounding surprised, though not entirely._

 _Sam eyed his father for a quick moment. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that John was already taking off on the next hunt. His father was never one to sit in one place for very long if he didn't have to. And he left most of Sam's care in the hands of his brother, so it's not like he was doing anything new or out of the ordinary. It never made a difference if he was injured or sick, Dean was always the one left to take care of him._

" _I can't let this demon get a way." John answered, not saying why exactly._

 _Dean stood, matching his father's height. "And what about Sam, you said that..."_

 _John cut him off. "Sam'll be just fine because he's got you to take care of him." He glanced over at Sam, giving him a stern look. "Isn't that right, Sam?"_

 _Sam swallowed hard and spared a peek at his brother, who seemed a tab bit aggravated now, before looking back at his father. "Yes, sir." He answered, knowing better than to argue with his father, not that he hadn't argued with him before. The two of them seemed to butt heads quite a bit actually._

" _Dad..." Dean tried._

" _Now, Dean..." John started sternly. "You are more than capable of taking care of your brother, am I right?"_

" _Yes, sir." Dean answered, sounding just a bit dejected._

" _Good." John moved to his bed, picking up his bag that was next it. As far as he was concerned, that was the end of the conversation. "Now, Sam here has to finish out the week at school." He looked up at his boys, who were both sitting on the opposite bed now...Sam with his water and Dean with a scowl on his face. "When the weeks done, I want you both to head out to Pastor Jim's. He'll have a room ready for you two and I'll meet you there as soon as I catch up with the demon."_

" _Yes, sir." Dean repeated. He knew it was pointless to argue with his father. The man was going to leave them no matter what he said._

 _John swung his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the door, glancing back at his boys one last time. "Dean, a word outside." He instructed to his oldest._

 _Dean sighed, but rose from the bed. "Be right back, Sammy." He said with a huff, before following their father outside._

 _John walked to his truck with Dean in tow. He set his bag in the passenger seat and turned to his son, who looked a little angered. He could easily guess why, but it wouldn't change things. Nothing was going to stop him from going after any demon that dared to hurt one of his loved ones. "Dean, this time I need to you actually take care of your brother." In an instant, he could see the hurt and guilt flashing in Dean's eyes. "No more date nights with your girl of the week and no more trips to that Plucky's. You stay with Sam except when you're both at school. Understood?"_

 _Dean took in a deep breath before answering with a "Yes sir." He wasn't about to leave Sam again. Sure, he laid part of the blame on their Dad who was always leaving them, but Sam had always been his responsibility...had been since he was four years old and had carried his brother out of that burning house. He always took most of the blame on himself when Sammy was hurt._

 _John pulled out a wad of cash from his glove box in the truck. He handed it out to Dean. "The rooms paid til the weekend. I expect you on the road first thing Saturday morning." Dean took the cash and nodded. "This should get through the end of the week and be enough for gas to get to Jim's place."_

 _Dean didn't risk counting the money in front of his father. He'd count it and budget the money when he was back inside the room with Sammy. "Of course." He answered, pocketing the cash. His father always insisted that he gave them plenty of money to get by with whenever he was away but that was far from the truth. After running out of cash several times while his father was away and having to come up with some unique methods of getting more cash, he had started budgeting the cash a little better so he could make it stretch longer._

 _John pulled out his wallet and slid a card out of it. "Now, this..." He held the card out. "is for emergencies only." It was a Visa credit card in the name of Frank Elliot. "If anyone asks for an ID with it, just use that one I gave you a while back. The name's should match."_

" _Yes, sir." Dean took the card._

" _Alright, I'll see you in a week or two." John said. He closed the passenger door of his truck and walked over to the driver's side. He added in one last, "take care of Sammy." before he climbed in the truck and started the engine._

 _Dean took that as his queue to head back inside the motel room, where Sam had gotten more comfortable on the bed. He had the TV on and was watching the news. "Anything good?" He asked Sam._

 _Sam looked up at Dean. "No, just the news. What did Dad say?"_

" _Just the usual, Sammy." He shot back, sitting on their Dad's bed. He turned to the TV as a reporter on the news began to speak about an unsolved shooting that took place behind Plucky's._

 _'We're still looking for any information on the shooting that took place in the alley behind Plucky Penny Whistles Magic Menagerie.' A male Asian reporter said. '42 year old Michael Thompson presumably stepped out behind the establishment on an employee mandated break, when someone shot him...once in the chest and once in the shoulder. There are security cameras on the scene, but they seem to have malfunctioned during the time of the shooting and the victim has not been able to explain his side of the story yet. If anyone has any information regarding the shooting, please phone the local authorities at 555-3300, EXT 112." A picture of the victim flashed on the screen while he spoke, showing the man dressed in a clown costume._

 _Sam gulped when he saw the photo and listened to the reporter. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something about the clown was familiar, but he couldn't place what it was. He glanced at his brother. "Hey, Dean?"_

 _Dean's gaze left the TV. "Yeah, Sammy?" He asked._

" _That clown, was he at Plucky's the day that you dropped me off there?" Sam wondered curiously._

 _Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know." He said, though he vaguely remembered a clown in the ER the same time that Sammy was."Probably."_

" _Dean, I still can't remember what happened." Sam sounded annoyed that he couldn't remember._

" _Look, Sammy, it's probably..."_

 _Sam cut Dean off. "If you say one more time that it's probably better that I don't remember..."_

 _Dean cut off Sam. "No, Sam..." He sighed with a huff. "You need to just put this whole thing behind you. We're gonna be outta this town soon anyways."_

" _Fine." Sam slammed down the tv remote on the bed and went to stand._

" _Whoa there little bro, where ya going?" Dean sat up straight, ready to tear after his brother if he needed._

 _Sam stepped away from his bed. "To the bathroom." He huffed, walking a few more steps until he was in the bathroom. He turned and slammed the door before Dean could say anything further._

* * *

So Sam's memories are a little fuzzy from the head injury and soon we will get to the part that ties into episode 7x14. There are a couple more parts to this story and I'll try to post again in a few days. Please review. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**A Forgotten Day at Pluckys**

So I owe everyone a big apology. I never meant to go this long between updates. I hope you all haven't abandoned this story. In this part we move more into the episode in season 7 and go on from there. We do get a little into Lucifer. I always wondered why he didn't have more presence in this episode, since the episode had some of Sammy's greatest fears in it. Seemed like a prime opportunity for Lucifer to chime in. Anyways, there will be one final update after this one to complete the story.

* * *

 _The rest of the week went by in a blur. Despite not remembering just what had happened to himself, Sam was anxious to get out of town. Dean was too. They couldn't wait to put that place in the rear view mirror. Come first thing Saturday morning, they were in the Impala and headed to Pastor Jim's about 8 hours away. There, they would meet up with their father eventually and continue on with the hunt for the thing that killed their mother._

Sam Winchester's mind harbored a lot of bad memories, ones that didn't include clowns. He'd spent almost an eternity in Lucifer's dog bowl and was tortured in ways no one could have ever thought possible. It was by sheer happenstance that when he was finally freed from Lucifer's clutches, Death had been willing to put in a wall to shield his mind from such terrible memories, much like that concussion shielded his mind all those years ago when he was thirteen. That wall came crumbling down though and brought with it more than just his memories from hell.

 _Their clunker car of the week slowly pulled out of the parking lot at Plucky Pennywhistle's Magic Menagerie. Left behind on the pavement was a small clown doll, it's head twisted to the side. Sam Winchester may have just faced his fear of clowns head on, and quite literally too, but that didn't mean he was ready to carry a keepsake of one. He'd be content still if he never had to see a clown again._

 _Dean just laughed as he watched Sammy struggle to roll back up the window of their POS car. Damn, he missed the Impala. "What, you're not gonna take it back to the hotel and get all warm and fuzzy with it?" He asked with a cheeky grin._

" _Sure, right after we get you on a plane again." Sam shot back, knowing how terrified his brother was to fly._

 _For once, Dean didn't have a witty comeback. He'd be damned if he ever stepped foot on a plane again. "So, I guess it's back to hunting the leviathan." He said after a few minutes. "I'll keep an eye out for motels and then we can crash for the night and recoup in the morning."_

 _Sam nodded at the window. "There's a sign for one." He shifted in his seat so he could read the details on the small sign and winced. The adrenaline from his crazed clown fight was finally wearing off and pain was starting to slowly creep up on him. "It's four miles up the road."_

 _Dean eyed his glitter clad brother. "You ok there, Sammy?" He asked, immediately going into worried brother mode._

" _I was attacked by clowns. How do you think I am?" Sam quipped sarcastically. His ribs were starting to feel sore and he felt a bit of pain around one of his kidneys. "I'll be fine." He also noted that his head was starting to pound. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw, as if that might ease some of the pain and sighed when it didn't seem to work._

 _Dean knew all the signs that his little brother wasn't feeling in tip top shape. After raising the kid, there was no way Sammy could keep anything from him. "We'll see about that. I'll give you a look over once we're at the motel."_

 _Sam just sighed. He knew it was better not to argue with his brother._

 _Several minutes later they approached a gas station and next to it was a combination diner and motel, The Briar Rose Inn and Restaurant._

 _Dean pulled into the parking lot. "Diner closed at eleven, so if you're hungry, we can grab something at the gas station." He said, aiming the car for a parking spot near the motel entrance. After several moments of silence, he eyed his brother who seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "Sam?"_

 _In that moment, Sam seemed to snap back to reality, jerking in his seat. "What? Yeah, I'm fine." He stammered. For some reason, he couldn't get the encounter with the clowns out of his head. He remembered the clown he and Dean had faced shortly after their Dad had passed away, but he felt like there was another encounter he should be remembering. He took a few blows to the head in this recent fight though and trying to think hard enough to remember only served to make his headache worse._

" _I didn't ask if you were fine, Sammy." Dean shot back a little worriedly._

 _Sam's eyes snapped to Dean. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just tired and want to get to bed." He said, trying to even his voice out and sound more believable._

" _After you wash all that glitter off right?" Dean laughed._

" _Yeah, of course." Sam replied, looking down at his glitter covered self. Dean had likened him to some PCP crazed stripper and maybe he wasn't too far off. He smiled slightly at his brother's humor._

" _Let me get us a room and then we'll be all set." Dean eyed the diner. "We can have breakfast at the diner and if you need something in the meantime, I can always run over to the gas station."_

" _Ok, sounds like a good plan." Sam let out a few breaths before deciding he should get up and out and start gathering their things to carry inside._

 _It didn't take long to get a room. It was a double on the main floor near an emergency exit. The hallway to their room had various photographs of flowers framed along the walls, but luckily their room was flower free. It was painted in neutral beige colors with red comforters on the beds, which both sat along the same wall and had some sort of forest paintings above them. A dresser with TV sat across from the beds and the bathroom was on the far wall, opposite the main door to the room. It was actually nicer than they were expecting, given the look of the place on the outside._

 _As usual, Dean plopped his bag on the bed closest to the door. He quickly kicked his boots off as he reached into his bag for the salt canister. Sam headed to the far bed, nearest the bathroom. He set his bag down and reached in for some sweats, a t-shirt, and his toiletry bag. He silently headed for the bathroom as his brother set out the salt lines._

" _Do you want anything from the gas station?" Dean hollered, trying to catch his brother before the shower turned on._

" _No, I'm good." Sam shouted back as the shower turned on. He adjusted the temperature and turned toward the mirror on the opposite wall. He carefully stripped out of his clothes and noticed the bruises on his torso that had started to form. No wonder his ribs were sore. He twisted a little and saw a dark bruise forming over one his kidneys. "Damn it." He muttered as he stripped off the rest of his clothes and turned to the toilet. He lifted the lid and began to relieve himself. His breath caught in his throat when he noticed a tinge of red coloring to his urine and winced a little when he realized it burned a little too. Dean wasn't going to be happy about that, but he didn't exactly have to tell Dean about it now did he? "Ugh..." He finally turned to the shower and stepped inside the warm spray. The sooner he got his shower over with, the sooner he could make his way to bed._

 _Dean plopped down on his bed, stripped down to his boxers and a t-shirt. He flipped on the TV at a low volume and found an old episode of 'Walker: Texas Ranger' on. He had the med kit out and sitting next to him so he could tend to his brother as soon as the younger Winchester was finished in the shower. Sam may have said he was fine, but Dean knew otherwise._

 _After what seemed like an eternity, his brother finally stepped out of the bathroom. He was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, his damp hair hanging around his face, and he looked exhausted. "Well, it's about time..." Dean started, instantly sitting up so he could go and check out what kind of damage those clowns did to Sammy._

 _Sam glanced in his brother's direction. "It took a long time to get all the glitter out of my hair." He said, pulling the covers back on his bed. He eyed the TV. "Are you watching 'Texas Ranger?'" He asked, sounding surprised._

 _Dean moved over to Sam's bed. "Dude, it's Chuck Norris." He answered. "He's like a god. Now sit down and let me take a look at you."_

 _Sam sat down, but put his hand out to keep his brother back. "I'm fine, Dean."_

 _Dean pushed Sam's hand away. "You're not fine until I give you a look over and say that you're fine." He argued. "Now lift your shirt."_

 _Sam sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright..." He gave in and lifted his shirt slowly._

 _Dean's eyes grew wide in worry. "This doesn't look like you're fine." He said, a hand moving to put slight pressure on one of Sam's bruises. He had to see if any of the ribs felt broken or not. His brother's instant hiss told him that even if they weren't broken, they were causing some definite pain. He moved his hands around Sam's torso a bit, checking each rib, but none seemed to be broken. "I don't think any ribs are broken." He craned his head just right so he could check out his brother's backside, noting the bruise over the one kidney. It looked pretty dark and deep. "Does it hurt when you pee or is there any blood when you piss?" He asked, looking down at Sam. "And I expect an honest answer."_

 _Sam let out a deep breath, not wanting to answer the question. "Uh, not really." He lied._

" _What does that mean?" Dean shot back, voice stern. "Yes or no?"_

" _Maybe." Sam sighed. "But it's not too bad. I'm sure I'll be fine."_

" _Sam..." Dean said in that worrying mother hen tone._

" _Dean, I'll be fine." Sam pushed his brother away so he could actually get into bed. "Maybe a little sore for a few days, but nothing I haven't dealt with before. And I'm tired. I promise I'll tell you if anything gets worse." He pulled the covers back and situated himself underneath them._

" _Alright." Dean conceded. "Get some rest and we'll talk again in the morning." He moved to his own bed. As Sam rolled over, arms tucked around a pillow, he got his bed ready. Covers had already been pulled back, but he made sure his Taurus was tucked under one of the pillows and got himself comfortable. It wasn't too long after that, he'd fallen asleep to the start of the next Texas Ranger episode._

 _Dean awoke some time later in the night to an infomercial for a Sham WOW! He silently reached for the remote on the nightstand and turned off the TV. He rolled over to get comfortable again and try to slip back into sleep, but movement in the other bed caught his attention._

 _Sam rolled over and moaned. His feet kicked at the blankets and he rolled again. He moaned more as his body tensed and then he was kicking at the blankets some more._

 _Dean signed and rolled back to his other side so he could see over to his brother. It wasn't uncommon for Sam to have nightmares and even a few night terrors, especially after the kids time in hell with Lucifer and Michael._

 _Sam had himself completely tangled in the sheets by the time he caught his brother's attention. There was a sheen of sweat coating him and his hair was plastered to the side of his face. His eyes were screwed shut tightly and he was starting to mumble. "No..." His knee jerked out in the mess of blankets and then his head thrashed back and fourth a few times._

" _Dammit..." Dean cursed. Whatever Sam was seeing, it had to be bad. He hadn't seen his brother thrash around this much during a nightmare in a long time. Sam had learned to sort of tame himself during some of his nightmares, but this wasn't one of those times. He pulled the covers back and slid his feet over the edge of the bed, waiting just a moment to see if his brother might settle down, but the next thing out of Sam's mouth surprised him and had him instantly on his feet._

" _No..." Sam jerked again and made a painful cry. "Dad..." And just like that, Sammy was still._

 _Dean was at his brothers side in mere seconds, hands gently brushing the sweat soaked hair out his his face. "Sammy?" Sam's breathing was a little erratic, but other than that, the kid was still...the nightmare seemingly over. He sat by his brother's side for several minutes just watching and waiting, wondering if his brother would wake or drift into another nightmare, but he seemed to be ok for the time being. He sighed and went back to his own bed, settling in for a long night. No way would he get back to sleep now. He was in 'watch over Sammy' mode and he'd probably be up the rest of the night making sure Sam didn't have any more nightmares._

 _Sometime later, Sam rolled to his side and hugged the pillow with his arms like he usually did. The sheets were now a tangled ball at his feet. He seemed to be in a calming slumber. Dean thought he looked so peaceful and innocent in that moment, but he had no idea the turmoil going on inside the younger man's brain._

 _Sammy stiffened and Dean couldn't help but do the same, watching curiously to see if something was wrong. Despite being tense all of a sudden, the younger man didn't move or make a sound at first._

 _In his mind, Sam was awake and sitting on the motel bed. He was thinking about the dream he'd just had. Nightmare was more of a better word for it. He was at Plucky's and a clown had cornered him just outside the bathrooms, it's eyes black as the night sky. The clown proceeded to drag him out behind the place and started assaulting him. He'd tried to get free, but that had only aggravated the clown more and eventually the clown started tearing at his clothes, trying to get him naked. It was going to rape him. Just when he thought he'd be violated, his father stopped the clown with a series of bullets and then...then he was back in the motel room just sitting on the bed._

 _He looked around confused, eyes landing on the lump in the other bed. "Dean?" He asked, voice shaky._

 _An arm pushed the covers back and Sam was met with a familiar pair of icy blue eyes. "Guess again, Sammy."_

 _Sam scrambled to the other side of his bed, hand immediately going to an old scar on his hand and pushing on it absently._

" _Aw, come on." Lucifer sneered, sitting up in bed. "You can't tell me that old hand trick is still working."_

" _No, no...you're not real." Sam stuttered._

" _And neither was that clown in your dreams..." Lucifer sneered, hanging his legs over the edge of the bed. "Oh wait..." He smiled in that devilish way. "He was real."_

" _You're lying." Sam said, still pushing on the hand scar. "I don't remember that ever happening."_

" _Sammy, Sammy, Sammy..." Lucifer shook his head a few times. "When that damn inside your head broke, all your memories came back. Not just your best memories of me or your time soulless."_

 _Sam's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand."_

 _Lucifer stood and walked closer to Sam, who only backed away further until he hit the wall and couldn't go back any further. "I guess dear old Dad never told you the truth about why you ended up in the hospital when you were thirteen after that trip to clown central, AKA Plucky's."_

 _Sam looked even more confused, so Lucifer continued. "See, John was out interrogating demons and learned some interesting things about your mothers death and about you. Fortunately, one of the demons snaked away and decided to go after you. He took over some low life clown." He reached Sam, hand going around his throat, merely to pin him in place. Sam made a useless struggle, which only seemed to excite Lucifer more. "The clown was this close..." He moved his face mere inches from Sam's, his other hand going down to grope Sam through his sleep pants. "...to fucking you, when John just had to intervene."_

 _Sam bucked at Lucifer, trying to get free. "The demon couldn't finish the job, so he knocked you around a bit instead." The hand around his neck grew tighter and Lucifer pulled him out from the wall just long enough to slam him back hard, head hitting with a painful thud."Guess he did a good number on your noggin and you couldn't remember a single bit of what happened that day." He was slammed a second time and everything went dark._

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Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments. As mentioned above, there should be one more update soon to finish this story out. Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **A Bad Day at Pluckys**

It just dawned on me that I never uploaded the last chapter of this fic. I'm terribly sorry about this. I wasn't exactly motivated since I didn't have a lot of reviews and life kind of got in the way. So, here is the final chapter.

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" _Sam, Sammy..." Dean shook his brother, trying to get him awake. He wasn't too worried about his brother going stiff, but when Sammy started to have trouble breathing, he knew he had to take action. "Come on, wake up." And just like that, Sam's eyes shot open and he took a big gulp of air followed by several deep breaths. Dean thought he saw hand prints on his neck, so he quickly flicked on the bedside lamp and looked Sam over. To his surprise, there were none. He must have been seeing things. "You ok, Sammy?" He asked. "What happened?"_

 _Sam tried to sit up. He looked around, a little dazed, before his eyes settled on Dean. He raised a hand, resting it on Dean's arm. It was more so to reassure himself that he was really awake than for any other reason. "Dean? Oh god..." His breathing finally began to normalize._

" _Sammy, what's going on?" Dean asked._

 _Sam sighed. "I think I was having some kind of nightmare or memory maybe." His other hand reached up and rubbed the back of his head. Man was it sore._

" _A memory?" Dean wasn't sure what that meant._

 _He finally let go of Dean, his hands falling to his lap. "Dean, do you remember that week when I was twelve or thirteen, when those kids beat me up outside that one Pluckys?"_

" _Of course I remember." Dean replied, not really wanting to think about the incident. He still harbored a little guilt over what happened to Sammy that day. "That was the last time you ever went to a Pluckys and once you were healed enough you started sparring a lot more with Dad and I."_

" _Yeah, so I could better protect myself." Sam added._

" _Well, whatever the reason, it sure made Dad happy." Dean shot back. There was a time when Sam rebelled against hunting and fought against all the training their Dad had them doing. Hell, there were a lot of times like that with Sammy, but after getting attacked by those kids he decided to buckle down on the sparring and hand to hand combat training. "Why are you bringing that up?"_

" _I never really remembered what happened." He said back._

 _Dean nodded. "Yeah, you had a pretty good concussion and the doc said you might not remember the incident or even the few days leading up to it." He stopped and thought for a second, putting a few puzzle pieces together in his head. "Is this what you were dreaming about? That day at Plucky's?"_

" _Dean, I..." Sam really wasn't sure how to word the next part. "Is there any chance it wasn't just kids that beat me up?"_

" _I don't know, Sammy." Dean replied. "Dad was the one that found you."_

 _Sam was immediately drawn back into the dream. Memory? Whatever it was. His Dad came at the last second and shot the clown before the clown could... "Oh god..."_

" _What?" Sam had a look of terror all of a sudden and it worried Dean._

 _Sam gulped and let out a shakey breath. "I think after Cas broke my wall, I started remembering things and not just things from hell or my time without a soul." Maybe Lucifer was right about his Dad not telling him everything about that day. The memory of it seemed as real as all of his other memories._

" _Things like what?" Dean wondered._

" _Things that may have been forgotten due to a simple head injury." Sam explained. "I don't think I was attacked by kids that day." Dean gave him a curious look so he continued. "I vaguely remember being at a carnival when I was younger where there were some clowns, but I have never really been able to pinpoint any exact moment when my dislike of clowns turned into an all out fear."_

" _So it happened at that carnival or whatever." Dean speculated. He wasn't sure which carnival it was, but they hadn't been to a lot of carnivals over the years that he could remember._

" _No, I don't think so." Sam shook his head. He looked up at his brother. "I think there was something else that happened, something more traumatic. I think a clown assaulted me that one day at pluckys."_

 _Dean looked at him in disbelief. "Sammy, Dad said..."_

 _He cut his brother off angrily, fist clenching. "I know what Dad said..." He trailed off and took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that."_

" _Sam..." Dean tried to interject._

" _No, I remember a clown and he dragged me out of pluckys kicking and screaming. He was...he was going to..." Sam wasn't sure he could say it out loud._

" _Going to what?" Dean pried worriedly._

 _Sam let out a deep shaky breath. "He was going to rape me."_

" _What?" Dean almost couldn't believe what he was hearing._

" _Dad stopped it though." Sam could see the worry and shock on Dean's face. "Dad shot the thing."_

" _Wait..." Dean shot up from the bed and paced a few times before he faced his brother again. "That day you were in the ER, a clown was brought in. Paramedics said something about a gun shot wound. I asked Dad if he knew anything about it and he said he didn't know anything about any clowns. Said you were just attacked by some kids that he'd had to scare off, but that he never got a look at any of their faces."_

 _Sam's brows furrowed in confusion. "You don't think Dad would have lied about something like this do you?" He asked._

" _Of course not, Sammy. Dad would never..." He trailed off, knowing that what he was about to say was complete nonsense. His father had lied before, so it wasn't a stretch to assume he'd lied about the Plucky incident. The real question was not if he lied, but why he would have lied. "Ok, maybe he might lie, but he usually only did it to protect us."_

" _Is that what he was doing when he neglected to tell me about the demon blood? Or about Yellow Eyes plans for me?" Sam huffed, a bit of anger in his tone of voice. He ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Hell, maybe Dad knew all those years ago that I was Lucifur's vessel." He immediately regretted those last words. "I didn't mean that. I'm just frustrated and want to know the truth."_

 _Dean sat next to Sam again. "Look, maybe it was wrong of Dad to keep some of that stuff from you, but we can't go back and change any of that." He said, trying not to let what Sam said anger him. He's always been a little defensive of their father. He knows the man did the best he could raising the two of them, even if Sam didn't always think so. "So I say we just move on, let the past stay in the past."_

 _Sam shot him a look. "But what about this clown thing?"_

 _Dean let out a sigh. "Even if this dream or whatever you had is real, it's still in the past."_

" _So, I should just let it go?" He asked. He wasn't sure if he could do that._

" _Well, not exactly." Dean said. "Maybe just stop letting this whole clown thing have control over you. I mean, you've never handled being around clowns well, but you faced the devil and won. You've faced hordes of demons and angels. Clowns are kind of small fry in comparison don't you think?"_

 _Sam thought about it for a minute. Maybe Dean was right. "I guess a clown's better than Lucifer." He finally said._

 _'Awe, Sammy...' Lucifer cooed in Sam's head. 'if you'd just give me a chance, you'd learn I'm really not so bad...' Sam huffed and shoved off from the bed, blankets falling in a heap on the floor. 'Come on, you'll grow to love me. I promise.'_

 _Dean noticed a small change in his brother as he quickly clamored off the bed. It was almost as if his brother was annoyed or trying to get a way from something. "You ok there, Sammy?" He asked._

 _Sam turned to Dean ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Yeah, I'm just tired."_

" _Maybe we should get back to sleep." He suggested to his younger brother. He wasn't even sure if Sam would be able to sleep again after his nightmare, but he thought he'd suggest it anyways._

" _I'm not sure I can sleep now." Sam said as he stifled a yawn. Between his nightmare about clowns and Lucifer hounding his waking and sleeping hours, he knew sleep wouldn't come to him again...not easily anyways._

 _Dean scooted back on Sam's bed, leaning against the head board. "Well, I guess we better find something to watch then." He patted the bed next to him. "Cause if you ain't sleeping, I probably won't either."_

 _Sam gave a half smile and moved over to the other side of the bed, sitting next to his brother. "Sorry..."_

 _He eyed Sammy. "Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry for." He said as he reached for the remote and flicked the tv on. "So, what'll it be..." He flipped through the stations. "An infomercial for flex seal?" He flipped again. "Commercials..." Flip. "Cheers..." He looked at Sam again, but didn't get a response so he flipped again. "Ah, Dukes of Hazzard."_

 _A small smile crept across Sam's face as he saw the General Lee flying over a hill. He remembered watching this show with Dean a lot when they were kids. It was one of his brother's favorites._

 _The General Lee pulled up to The Dixie, where Daisy Duke was leaning against the jeep waiting. "Ah, Catherine Bach, my first crush." Dean said with glee. He spent many childhood nights dreaming about her in those short shorts._

 _Sam let out a quick laugh. "I thought the General Lee was your first crush?"_

 _Dean shook his head. "No, no...that was my first car crush." He clarified for Sammy and then teased "Who was your first crush, Barbara Streisand?"_

" _Haha, no..." Sam replied._

" _So, who was it?" Dean begged to know._

" _Forget it, I'm not saying." Sam crossed his arms in defiance.  
_

" _Oh, come on." Dean urged. "I promise not to make fun of you."_

" _Fine," Sam huffed. "It's Carrie Fischer."_

" _Seriously?" Dean sounded surprised._

" _You promised you wouldn't make fun of me, Dean." He shot back, regretting instantly that he'd told his brother._

 _Dean shook his head. "Hey, I'm not making fun of you. I'm just surprised." He pictured Carrie Fischer in Star Wars. He remembered not really being into the movies all that much, but Sammy made him watch them and when he saw her in Return of the Jedi, he was instantly smitten with her. "She was a fox in Return of the Jedi. That gold bikini...oh yes..."_

 _Sam nudged Dean in his side. "Get your head out of the gutter. You can think about that bikini when you're in the shower later."_

" _Oh, you bet I will, bitch." Dean shot back playfully._

 _Sam grinned and said "Jerk" as they both bumped shoulders. The show continued on while they watched the rest of it in silence. Eventually, they both nodded off into a dreamless sleep and stayed asleep until well into the next morning._

That night, that was when Sam Winchester was quite certain of where his fear of clowns came from. He may not have been actually violated that night by the clown, but for a normal person living some apple pie life, it would be enough to make them fearful. Hell, it had made him fearful. Thinking long and hard about his fear of clowns, though he realized that they weren't the scariest thing out there. He'd actually been violated and he remembered each time with crystal clear clarity...thanks to the devil. There were no clowns involved. Just an angry pair of angels who were mad because their destined fight was canceled at the last second. He'd been through a hell of a lot in his life and clowns, they should have been the least of his worries. There were bigger threats in the world and he needed to focus on those instead. And that's just what he'd do, as long as he had his brother fighting alongside him. Together, they could get each other through anything.


End file.
